Chapter 1

The Night That Changed Everything

Carina’s POV

I shouldn't be here. Not in this suite. Not in this bed. Not under him. But I am.

My back arches as his mouth grazes the curve of my collarbone, hot breath sending tremors down my spine. His touch is fire…burning away every doubt, every ounce of logic I had left. Dante Santiago is a storm I should’ve never walked into, but now I’m drowning in him.

“Say it,” he whispers against my skin. “I want you,” I breathe, even though I shouldn't.

His lips find mine, fierce and full of longing, like he’s been starving and I’m the only thing that can satisfy his hunger. I kiss him back with everything in me, pouring in years of loneliness, pain, and silent dreams I never dared to speak aloud.

My clothes vanish. He undress my clothes Skin meets skin, and he moves above me with slow intensity, groaning low as he sinks into me. My breath catches. The world fades.

It's just us. Dante and Carina. A billionaire and a waitress. A man with everything and a girl with nothing.

His hand slides into mine, fingers locking. I bite my lip as heat coils in my core. My body rises to meet his, aching, desperate. Every thrust pushes me higher, closer to a place where nothing hurts, where I matter, where I’m not just some background girl waiting tables for rich strangers.

"You feel like sin," he murmurs, his voice rough, low, possessive. "You feel like heaven," I whisper back, eyes fluttering shut.

And when I shatter beneath him, I swear it’s not just pleasure…it’s release. From the pain. From the shame. From the secret I carry inside my heart.

He holds me afterward, fingers tangled in my hair, his breath slowing against my cheek. "You’ll be gone when I wake up, won’t you?" he asks, voice barely above a whisper.

I nod. “This is just… tonight.” But it was never justanything, because tonight left me with something more than a memory. It left me pregnant.

Six Weeks Later

I puke for the third time that morning and slump against the cold tile of my tiny bathroom floor. I don’t need a test, I already know.

My shaking hands cradle my flat stomach. “Hi,” I said. “I guess it’s just me and you now.”

I still hear Dante’s voice in my head, the way he called me "trouble" with that teasing smirk, the way he made me feel like I mattered for one night. I told myself it meant nothing.

But now it means everything. Because he doesn’t know.He can’t know.

He’s the heir to Santiago Global, the most powerful man in the city, and I’m just the girl who served him wine in a too-tight dress. A night he probably forgot the second he stepped out of that hotel suite.

I can’t keep this baby, I can’t not keep this baby.

Tears blur my vision as I pull myself to my feet and make the hardest decision of my life.

Three Months Later

My world is paper-thin. Rent past due. Working two jobs. Avoiding mirrors because I can’t face how tired I look. My stomach’s started to show just a little. I wear oversized sweaters, hide behind shadows.

I haven't told a soul. Not even Leo, my best friend, the only one who might still care.

And certainly not Dante, Because I know what people like him do. They destroy girls like me with a smile.

That’s why I’ve stayed far away, even though I see his name on every billboard, every social media feed…posing with models, shaking hands with presidents, kissing cheeks at fancy galas.

He’s a star in a world I’ll never belong to, but fate is cruel. Because one rainy evening, as I leave my late shift, umbrella broken, belly hidden under my apron, I see him.

In the alley behind the restaurant. Talking on the phone. Alone.

His back is turned, but I’d know that posture anywhere. Broad shoulders. Perfect suit. The stormy aura that never quite leaves him.

My feet freeze, and that’s when he turns around. His gaze collides with mine, and everything inside me goes still.“Carina?” Oh no. He remembers.

She’s thinner. Paler. But her eyes...they still make something in me ache. “Carina,” I say again, stunned.She looks like she might bolt, and then she does. She runs.

I run like hell. I run with my heart racing and my stomach twisting, the baby in my womb screaming for protection. I run because this world eats girls like me alive, and Dante was never supposed to see me again.Not like this. Not with his child growing inside me.

Three Days Later

He finds me. I don’t know how he did it. But all I knew was that all billionaires like him? They have ways. He shows up outside my apartment just as I’m locking the door for my night shift.

He doesn’t look angry. He looks... confused. Raw. “We need to talk,” he said.

“I’m late,” I lie His hand stops me. “Why did you run?”“Because I don’t belong in your world,” I snap, bitterly.

“You belonged that night.” “That night was a mistake.”He flinches. I feel it in my chest.

“Is it mine?” he asks, eyes on my stomach. Everything inside me stills. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie to me, Carina.” His voice drops, dangerous now. “Is it mine?”

I can’t answer. I just walk away, but I know that silence screamed the truth.

Later That Night

I sit on the floor of my bedroom, tears slipping down my cheeks, one hand on my belly.

I’m losing control. He knows, Or at least he suspects…and I know Dante Santiago.

He won’t let this go.

The next morning, I wake to someone nocking on the door. I groan, shuffle to it, still in my nightshirt, my hair a mess, but when I open it… I notice it’s Dante stand there.

With Vanessa beside him. Her arms folded. Her lips curled into a smirk. “I told you she was hiding something,” Vanessa purrs.

“What’s going on?” I said. Dante’s eyes burn into mine.“We’re getting a paternity test. Today.” And just like that, my world explodes.